


We're All in This Together

by keithpoenewt



Series: High School Senior Year AU [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Developing Relationship, Established Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, G I V E H I M A M E D A L, G O A L S, Gay Keith (Voltron), High School, High School AU, Homecoming, Homecoming Dance, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Idiots in Love, In Love, Kissing, M/M, Original Character(s), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), School Dances, Senior year, Slurs, Swearing, YOU KNOW IT, he's just a boy in love, teehee
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-22 21:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17670566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithpoenewt/pseuds/keithpoenewt
Summary: After a successful football field unveiling, it's time for everyone to return to school for one final year together. Things look up for Keith and Lance now that they're officially a couple. Granted, there are still some jerks in their class that think they shouldn't be together.With Homecoming just around the corner, the school prepares by hosting an assembly for the student body. Representatives from each grade participate in the activities, hoping to win a day off from school for their class. Lance signed Keith up for every activity and even signed him up to announce the Homecoming court.Who will win? Who will become the Homecoming King and Queen?





	We're All in This Together

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a billion years since I've updated this AU lol, but that was the deal! A special thank you to my [Beta Reader](http://instagram.com/just_ashley_p?utm_source_ig_profile_share&igshid=1x3d8v27h9kat/) for reading over this!
> 
> Enjoy~

Keith groans loudly when he hears his alarm going off. He’d rather be going anywhere than school since today is the homecoming assembly where, at the end of the day, the school packs into the hot, sweaty gym to watch other students play games and other random shit before the actual interesting part happens.

Okay, that’s not the whole story, but the past three years Keith’s been able to make up a bullshit reason not to go, but he has to go this year since Lance gave him the choice of either being forced to participate in every activity or to be one of the announcers when the court walks out. Keith told Lance that if he made him do either of those things, he wouldn’t have a boyfriend anymore.

Needless to say, Lance called Keith’s bluff and signed him up for both. Now Keith’s stuck playing tug-a-war, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and whatever other dumb things the student council chose. Not to mention he has to read the sheets as the court walks in so he has to actually speak like he’s not illiterate otherwise he’ll never live it down.

Anyway, Keith rolls out of bed and changes into some shorts and a T-shirt before running downstairs to eat breakfast. His mom already set out a plate of waffles for him and a note saying that she hopes he has a good day. As Keith sits down, footsteps stomp down the stairs and Shiro goes running past him into the kitchen. He gives Shiro a weird look before directing his attention to his food. Keith’s phone buzzes and he looks to see some Instagram and Snapchat notifications. He opens up Snapchat first and sees snaps from people including Gwen, Hunk, Shay, and Lance. Keith looks through everyone else’s before Lance’s, most of them are just sending out snaps to keep their streaks alive. He clicks on Lance’s and it’s a video of him with the heart filter on. Lance winks at the camera then laughs at himself before the video stops. Keith rolls his eyes and takes a picture of his waffles and types:  _ You’re not funny _

 

**_lance_mcclain is typing…_ **

**_Snapchat from lance_mcclain_ **

 

Keith snickers and clicks on the notification, opening up the chat bar. Lance’s bitmoji pops up at the bottom left of the screen above the keyboard, signaling he’s looking at the chat.

Keith laughs at his own taunt and closes the app to finish his waffles. He ignores the buzzing of his phone from messages from Lance as he takes the last bite of his waffle. Keith stands up and brings his plate over to the sink, then chugs the glass of apple juice before heading back upstairs to brush his teeth and grab his shoes. He looks behind him where Shiro ran off to but decides to drop it and head upstairs. Keith walks into the bathroom, grabs his toothbrush and starts brushing his teeth. His phone buzzes again and he sees Lance trying to video call him from Snapchat. Keith rolls his eyes and presses accept, not caring that he’s still brushing his teeth.

“ _ KEITH! _ ” Lance exclaims through the phone. “ _ Did you actually vote for Kyle?! _ ”

Keith doesn’t respond since he’s still brushing his teeth. After another minute or so, he spits the toothpaste out, rinses off his toothbrush, then puts it away. He wipes his mouth and picks up the phone to look at the screen. “You know I’d never vote for anyone but you.”

Lance smiles widely. “ _ Aww, thanks, boo. I’m sorry I ever doubted you. _ ”

Keith rolls his eyes and walks back to his room. “What did you want? I know you didn’t call just to see if I did vote for Kyle.”

“ _ Oh! Right! I wanted your opinion on which shirt to wear! _ ” Lance exclaims, setting the phone down so it’s standing up to get a full-body shot of Lance. He has on nice brown dress pants but lacks a shirt.

“I think you’ll look just fine without a shirt on,” Keith comments smugly as he searches for his red converse.

“ _ Appreciated, but not helpful, _ ” Lance replies from off camera. “ _ Shit, where did I put them?! Dammit! I have to leave in like five minutes! _ ”

“Better hurry,” Keith says, tying his shoes. “Once these high tops are tied, I’m hopping on my motorcycle and leaving for school.”

“ _ GOT IT! _ ” Lance exclaims. He appears back on screen with a sky blue shirt and a white shirt in his hands. “ _ Okay, which one? _ ”

“I say the blue one. It’ll bring out your eyes,” Keith says. “Also, I’m pretty sure that one is a bit tighter so it’s a win for me.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “ _ Yeah, okay. Thanks! See you at school! _ ” He makes a smooch noise then hangs up the call.

Keith finishes lacing his shoes then runs down the stairs to grab his backpack, helmet, and keys. He gets to the back door, but his phone rings again. Keith looks at the caller and sees it’s Lance. He presses accept. “Lance, I literally just talked—”

“ _ Keith, my car has a flat tire, and I need you to bring me to school _ ,” Lance interrupts.

“You do realize you’ll be on the back of my motorcycle, right?” Keith asks, grabbing the other helmet he has. “You might get helmet hair.”

“ _ I know, but I’m desperate, _ ” Lance says. “ _ Please? Besides, you look sexy with it. _ ”

Keith rolls his eyes. “You’re lucky I decided to leave early today…and that we live close to each other.” He presses the button on his bike and revs the engine. “See you in a few.” He hangs up the phone and shoves the other helmet in the little compartment where he’d put his backpack if he had a passenger—which he will, soon. Keith makes sure it’s secured before turning around in the driveway.

He takes a deep breath and lowers the visor on his helmet so the sun doesn’t blind him then he takes off down the driveway, turning sharply to the right onto the road. Keith smirks to himself and speeds down the road, approaching the fork in the street to get to Lance’s house. He makes sure another car isn’t coming before taking another sharp right turn. Keith zigzags through the streets behind his house and comes to a halt at a stop sign. He looks to the left then the right and back to the left before turning left onto the road. Once he comes up to Lance’s house, he revs the engine loudly to announce his presence, then he pulls into Lance’s driveway.

A few seconds later he hears a door open in the garage and sees Lance run outside wearing the nice button-up blue shirt Keith picked out earlier, the brown pants, and some nice dress shoes. Lance shouts something inside the house before hurrying over to Keith, slightly struggling to put his backpack on. “I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” Lance says with a smile as he approaches Keith.

Keith lifts up his visor and raises his eyebrow. “Dude, you’ve ridden this before. I literally picked you up on this for our first date.”

“I know and that was super romantic, but don’t ruin this for me!” Lance complains as he takes the other helmet out of the compartment to switch it out for Keith’s backpack. He makes sure it’s secure before sitting behind Keith, sitting as close to him as possible. “Come here often?” Lance winks at him.

Keith rolls his eyes and puts his visor back down. “Don’t start with me.”

Lance laughs loudly then puts the other helmet on. Since this is Keith’s old helmet, it doesn’t have the entire head protection as Keith’s new one nor does it have a dark visor. Instead, it has a clip with a chin protector that goes under the jaw and a clear visor—plus it has a blue streak going across the top. Keith bought his new jet black one because it made him look more badass when he wore the entire suit with it.

Once Lance is settled and his arms are wrapped tightly around Keith, Keith backs out of the driveway and soars down the road to head to school. He feels Lance’s grip tighten around his waist which only makes him want to go faster, but he doesn’t want to get it first speeding ticket so he holds back. They make it to the main road that leads them directly to the school and Keith drives down it. Most of the lights they hit are green, but when they hit red ones, Lance takes the time to fix his bowtie despite Keith’s habit of jerking forward whenever the light turns green. Somehow Lance always manages to stay on, and it’s still a mystery to Keith.

Anyway, once they arrive at school, Keith pulls into the senior lot and parks in the closest compact spot to the school—having a motorcycle does have its advantages. As he and Lance get off, Gwen and Cassidy walk over to them, chatting about something that must’ve happened at band practice. Since they live close to each other, they usually carpool.

“Hey, guys!” Cassidy exclaims. “How are you?”

“I’m great!” Lance exclaims, taking his helmet off. “Wait, does my hair look bad?”

Gwen shoves her phone and keys into Keith’s hands before reaching up to fix Lance’s hair. Keith gives her a glare before unlocking her phone and opening up messages. He scrolls through them until he finds the text conversation between Gwen and Ben when they were partners for an English project and begins reading through the messages. Since neither of them decided to admit their feelings for each other during Corex, Lance devised a plan to get them together and recruited Keith’s and Cassidy’s help in doing it. Keith’s not exactly sure why Lance needs Keith’s help—maybe because Keith’s been dealing with Ben’s shit since freshman year? Yeah, that’s probably it.

From these messages, they’ve been talking about random things since then, but it’s been over a week since either of them said anything. Keith sighs when he reads the last conversation between them.

Keith winces at Gwen’s last message and Ben’s response to said message. He rolls his eyes and closes the app when Gwen finishes messing with Lance’s hair. “Done!” Gwen exclaims. “Your hair is really soft by the way.”

“Why thank you, but you haven’t felt soft hair until you run your fingers through Keith’s luscious black locks,” Lance says with a smirk.

Gwen shakes her head no then takes her phone and keys from Keith. “Yeah, I didn’t really need to know that.” She pats Keith’s shoulder and waves to Lance before she and Cassidy make their way towards the school.

Once they’re out of sight, Keith turns to Lance. “We have a problem. Ben and Gwen are even worse at flirting than I am. The last text conversation they had was about homecoming and it didn’t go well.”

Lance sighs and rubs his forehead. “Well, homecoming is tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure it’s too late for Gwen to go out and buy a dress. What did Ben say about going?” he asks as they cross the street from the parking lot to get to the school.

“Okay, first he asked if she planned on going to homecoming and Gwen said no because she hadn’t been to a dance since sophomore year then added going without a date would be lame. Ben replied saying he went that year without a date. Gwen retorted with this being the senior homecoming—probably being extra lame maybe? I dunno…something like that probably,” Keith shares as he opens the door for Lance. “Ben brushed it off saying to just hang out with friends because that was his plan, then Gwen said she’d pass on that. The last message between them was from over a week ago was Ben saying  _ oh _ with three dots afterward.”

“ _ Oh _ ? Just that? Wow, they  _ are _ worse than you!” Lance exclaims with a chuckle as they walk through the hallway, past the main office and over to the main stairwell. They make their way up to the third floor to go to their lockers before heading to their first hour. “Like, honestly, you were bad, but this—”

“I get it! I get it,” Keith interrupts, twisting the lock on his locker… _ 30-17-06 _ …before lifting the handle and swinging it open. “You don’t need to rub it in.” He sets his bag down and begins putting away the books he won’t need right away but stops when Lance opens his locker all the way, leaning against it.

“Keith, you know I’m just teasing you, right?” Lance asks as he rubs Keith’s shoulder, running his hand down Keith’s arm until lacing their fingers together.

“I know, Lance, alright? I’m just embarrassed you had to deal with it,” Keith replies, lifting Lance’s hand up to kiss it before releasing it and resuming what he was doing before. “Do you think we’ll need our—”

“Could you two not be gross in the middle of the hallway?” a familiar condescending female voice asks from behind Keith. “I’d like to not vomit today.”

Keith huffs, frustrated then turns around with his arms crossed. He glares at Kara and looks her up and down. “Isn’t that skirt a bit too short for the school dress code?”

“Isn’t being a fag a bit too disgusting for society?” she retorts.

Keith takes a step towards her, ready to swing, but Lance grabs his arm to hold him back. “Keith, don’t. She’s not worth it,” Lance warns.

“I’d listen to your stupid boyfriend, Keith,” Kara sneers. “You wouldn’t want—”

“Miss Carrie, stop bothering them and move along,” Lotor instructs, walking up behind her.

Kara turns around, eyes wide with fear. She nods then hurries off in the opposite direction to walk up the north stairwell. Lotor walks over to Keith and Lance and crosses his arms. “How much grief have you been getting from your classmates?” he wonders.

“It’s really only been Kara, Damien, and their friends,” Lance replies as Keith finishes getting the stuff he needs out of his locker. “Everyone else has either been supportive or hasn’t cared.”

Lotor nods. “Okay, well, I’ll see you two in class.” He smiles at them then walks down the hallway to his classroom.

 

**_SALT SQUAD_ **

**_gwenmiller is typing…_ **

 

**_SALT SQUAD_ **

**_from gwenmiller_ **

 

Keith feels his phone buzz in his pocket so he pulls it out and sees it’s a Snapchat from Gwen to the group chat that has herself, Cassidy, Sylvia, Hunk, Shay, Lance, and Keith in. He opens the conversation and reads the message. Her bitmoji pops up above her name, signaling she’s looking at the group snap right now.

Lance pulls out his phone and looks at the chat too. Keith sees his bitmoji pop up above his name. He gasps when he reads it. “What the hell! I thought you said he liked Gwen?!”

“I did!” Keith exclaims. “I don’t—”

Keith sees Sylvia’s and Shay’s bitmojis pop up above their names next as Lance’s disappears. Lance grabs Keith’s arm and brings him down the stairs towards the cafeteria.

Keith closes his phone and ignores it as it continues to vibrate. He and Lance arrive in the cafeteria and, sure enough, Ben’s there taking pictures with Amanda holding a sign asking her to homecoming. Keith looks over at where Gwen and her friends typically sit and he sees her nearly fuming. Pictures finish and Ben hands the sign to Amanda when she holds her hand out for it before walking up to Keith and Lance.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Ben says.

“Really? Because it looks like you asked Amanda to homecoming instead of the girl you actually like,” Keith retorts, crossing his arms.

Lance nods at Keith then walks over to Gwen’s table to diffuse the situation over there. Keith leads Ben out of the cafeteria to talk.

“I planned on going along with some other friends, but then she got elected for homecoming court, so she said she wanted a date and I told her I’d ask her tomorrow,” Ben explains. “Keith, I was just doing her a favor, okay? I don’t even like her like that, and I know she doesn’t like me like that.”

“Gwen’s pissed,” Keith shares.

Ben sighs. “She told me she wasn’t going, so I threw away my idea of asking her.”

Keith rubs his temples. “You’re both idiots.”

“Oh, like you’re any better?” Ben retorts.

“At least  _ I _ admitted it to him during Corex!” Keith exclaims. “I’m not gonna argue about this with you, Ben. Either fix it or explain to her what happened. She’s reasonable.”

Ben scoffs. “She’d kill Kara if given permission.”

“Everyone would…what’s the matter with you? Are you scared of her?” Keith wonders.

Ben rolls his eyes. “And this discussion is over.” He walks away back over to his other friends, leaving Keith glaring after him. Keith’s phone buzzes and he sees Hunk participating in the group snap. His bitmoji pops up above his name.

Gwen’s and Cassidy’s bitmojis pop up above their names.

Lance’s, Sylvia’s, and Shay’s bitmojis appear above their names.

Keith closes the conversation when he hears the P.A. system turn on over the loudspeakers. “ _ Keith Kogane, please come to the main office, thank you _ ,” Coran says before it turns off.

Keith groans in annoyance and turns around, making his way toward the main office. He rounds the corner past the art room and walks straight until he reaches the office on the right. Keith opens the door and sees another guy in there talking with Coran. He has wavy/curly dirty blond hair styled up, blue eyes, and is at least five inches taller than Keith—making him about six feet tall. Keith’s never seen this guy before.

“Uh, Coran? You needed to see me?” Keith asks, avoiding the guy’s gaze because who’s Keith kidding? He’s kinda hot.

“Yes! Keith, I’d like you to meet your newest classmate, Matt Henderson!” Coran exclaims. “Matt, this is Keith Kogane! He’ll be showing you around today.”

Keith looks at Matt then back at Coran. “I don’t remember seeing him at Corex.”

Coran laughs. “Good observation! That’s because he wasn’t! He was still in Minnesota at that time. The bell will ring soon, I’m sure Matt can fill you in on every question you have!” He waves them out.

“Not to be rude or anything, but did Coran tell you why he chose me to show you around? I’m not really the best with first impressions,” Keith says. “My boyfriend—” He stops his sentence short, looking to Matt to see his reaction.

Matt nods. “Don’t worry. Your boyfriend is Lance McClain, right? I actually did meet with him yesterday, and he suggested you because my schedule is close to yours and because you’re one of the hockey captains.”

“You play hockey?” Keith wonders as they walk up the stairs. “Wait, which floor is your locker on?”

“Yes, and second,” Matt says. “My homeroom is Spanish. Locker 243.”

Keith nods and leads him over to it so he can put stuff away. “So, why weren’t you at Corex?”

“We were still packing up stuff to move from Minnesota. They asked me if I was able to attend, but it was too much. This is actually the first day I’ll be physically in class. I’ve had to do all of the work online for my classes…which honestly sucked ass,” Matt admits with a chuckle.

“I bet,” Keith comments. The bell rings and he watches as kids begin making their way to their lockers. He spots Gwen, Cassidy, and Sylvia walking to their lockers. Gwen still looks pissed from the antics that occurred in the cafeteria. “Hey, Matt. could I look at your schedule?”

Matt nods and hands a piece of paper to Keith before continuing organizing his books. Keith looks it over and notices their first and second hours are identical but their third, fourth, and lunch hours are different. However, they match up with someone else:  _ Gwen _ . Matt stands up and shuts his locker. “Is there something wrong with it?” he wonders.

“No, it’s just that your third hour, fourth hour, and lunch period are different from mine,” Keith says.

Matt sigh. “Oh.”

“I’ve got a plan though,” Keith says. He motions for Matt to follow him over to where Gwen, Sylvia, and Cassidy are. “Hey, Gwen?”

Gwen pops her head up and looks at Keith. “Sup?” She glances over at Matt and raises an eyebrow, looking him up and down. “Who’s your new friend?”

“This is Matt Henderson,” Keith introduces. “Matt, I’d like you to meet Gwen Miller, Cassidy Roberts, and Sylvia Huertas. Gwen happens to have your third hour, fourth hour, and lunch period.”

“Keith, don’t be telling everyone my secrets,” Gwen states with an amused smile. “But seriously, is he a new student?”

Keith nods. “Yep. He moved here from Minnesota. This is his first day here in the classes, and Lance is having me show him around, but you’ll be taking over after ten-minute break.”

Gwen narrows her eyes at Keith then looks at Matt again. He smiles kindly at her. Gwen’s usual cold, don’t-fuck-with-me demeanor seems to fizzle away, and she actually smiles back at him. “O-okay.” Her cheeks heat up slightly, and she elbows Cassidy and Sylvia. “Let’s, uh, head to class. It was really nice to meet you, Matt.” She bites her lip and looks at Matt one last time. “Blue is a nice color.” Gwen covers her mouth then hurries to the stairs.

Cassidy exchanges an intrigued expression with Sylvia and Keith before following Gwen. “Keith, what are you up to?” Sylvia wonders.

“I’m not up to anything,” Keith says honestly. “I’m just making sure Matt gets the full experience of a day here at Altea High.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Matt wonders.

Sylvia laughs then walks away, shaking her head. When she’s gone, Keith looks at Matt. “Nah, you did exactly what you needed to do,” Keith says.

“Did she say blue was a nice color because I have blue eyes?” Matt asks next.

Keith nods. “Yep. Any more questions?”

Matt’s eyes widen at Keith’s bluntness. “Uh…nope! I have enough information right now.”

“Smart answer,” Keith states. “Now, let’s head to gov…I’m sure Miss Parisi will be ecstatic to finally meet you if you’ve been doing all the work online.” They make their way up the stairs to the AP Government classroom. As they take their seats, Keith pulls out his iPad and sends Lance a message, telling him he met Matt and thinks he can do something about this Gwen and Ben problem.

Lance’s response is simply a smirking devil emoji. Does Lance already have something up his sleeve?

 

* * *

 

 

Once the clock hits two, the bell rings, signaling the end of class. Keith shuts his philosophy book and slides it into his backpack. Normally he’d attempt to sneak out while everyone heads to the assembly, but he can’t for this one since Lance got him involved in just about every activity known to man. Sadly he doesn’t get to walk to the assembly with Lance since he had to go early to deal with some other things.

Plus he’s got Matt to show around.

“ _ Everyone participating in the assembly activities, please make their way to the gymnasium! _ ” Coran instructs through the PA system.

Keith groans internally and stands up with a couple other of his classmates to walk to the gym. Matt looks at Keith with a concerned expression. “Gwen’s gonna meet you outside this classroom,” Keith reassures him. “Lance signed me up for all the dumb activities.”

Matt nods and visibly relaxes. Keith waves goodbye to him and makes his way to the gym. One of the classmates he walks with is Ryan Kinkade, the right wide receiver on the football team. Ryan’s been a varsity football player longer than Keith since he’s much taller and more muscular, but Keith’s more athletic and can run faster than he can. Keith doesn’t know much about him since he rarely talks, and he rarely saw him at Corex. Ryan never was the biggest talker when it comes to socializing during class. Keith’s only ever seen him talk with his close friends, Nadia Rizavi (also is Lance’s vice president), Ina Leifsdottir, and James Griffin. Now, Keith isn’t too close with those three either since he never has any classes with them, and even if he did, they’d be sitting at the other end of the classroom. Keith and James have a bit of a checkered past since they go back to grade school, but they’ve moved past their issues. He doesn’t necessarily consider James a  _ friend _ per se, but he’ll settle for an acquaintance. They really only talk with each other during the spring when baseball’s in season. James is their residing third baseman and already signed to Vanderbilt to play D1 baseball for them. They offered Keith the same scholarship, but Keith’s got other offers to deal with.

He doesn’t really want to think about that right now.

Anyway, Ryan breaks Keith out of his thoughts when he looks at him and says his name.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Keith wonders.

“I’ve never seen you participate in any assembly,” he states.

Keith raises an eyebrow. “I could say the same about you.”

“Touché,” Ryan replies with a nod. “I lost a bet with Nadia so that’s why I’m here. What’s your excuse?”

“Lance is my excuse. He signed me up for everything by force,” Keith shares. “I also have to introduce the court when they walk in.”

Ryan chuckles. “Yeah, that sounds like something he would do. I know we never really talk, but I’m happy for you and him. Hearing you two at Corex during Large Group Gifting was nice.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” Keith says. “I think this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had.”

“Yeah. I want to end this year on a better note, so I’m taking some of Nadia’s advice to get to know people a little better,” Ryan explains as they reach the gymnasium and set their bags down. “It’s weird but also nice at the same time. Do you get what I mean?”

“Oddly, I do,” Keith replies. “You going to homecoming with a date or stag?”

“I’m actually taking Francesca,” Ryan reveals. “Nadia helped me do it after one of her cross country practices.”

Keith nods. “Cool. You saw how Lance asked me, right?”

“Oh yeah, I did. I almost thought he was going to do it during the ceremony, but didn’t he change it at the last second?” Ryan wonders.

“Yeah. He knew I don’t like being in the spotlight, so he switched it,” Keith answers. “He’s thoughtful like that.” He smiles to himself as the rest of the participants arrive in the gymnasium. “You think we’ve got a chance at winning states this year?”

Ryan nods without any hesitation. “Oh without a doubt! With Schmidt, you, and Hunk leading us and the defense we’ve got right now…we’re unstoppable.”

Coran walks over to them and motions for them to gather around. “Alright! We’ll be splitting up by grade levels. The first activity is tug-a-war, and the freshmen will be up against the seniors, then the sophomores against the juniors. Winners will play each other, then that winner will go against the staff.”

“What do we get if we win?” a sophomore starting guard named Ron Garner wonders.

“The winning class will get a pizza party day off from school,” Coran answers. “However, if you lose to the staff, you get nothing. The staff receives pizza for lunch. Go ahead and split up into your classes. Once the rest of the student body arrives, be ready to go.”

All the students disperse into their respective class groups. Keith looks around at his fellow team members, smiling when he sees Hunk as part of the group. Along with Hunk, Ryan, and Keith, there are Margo Johnson, Andrew Zimmerman, and Ben Richard. Keith vaguely knows Margo from AP Bio freshman year, but other than that, he’s had zero interaction with her. The only other thing he knows about her is that she’s the best golfer on the girls’ varsity team. Andrew plays hockey with Keith as the left defender. He’s one of the bigger guys on the team but is surprisingly very agile. He also plays soccer with Lance as a left midfielder. Then there’s Ben—enough said there.

He glances at the other classes but only recognizes a few faces—well, he recognizes nearly all of them, but only knows a few personally. One of those kids being junior quarterback Luke Schmidt. He’s the entire school’s sweetheart, and if Keith wasn’t currently in love with Lance, he’d probably have a thing for Luke. Alas, Keith chose Lance, and he doesn’t regret it for a second. Another junior he knows is Arthur Burke who is another right ring for the hockey team. Keith starts, but Arthur usually is the one to go in when Keith needs a break and will probably take the starting position when Keith graduates. Arthur is a lot like Keith in how he’s sort of a loner, but Keith took Arthur under his wing—pun intended—and sort of turned him into his protégé. The last junior Keith knows personally is Isaac Endicott-West who is the starting outside linebacker for the football team and probably the second most aggressive person on the team. For a short, stocky kid, he’s got a lot of pent-up anger. Keith respects that from him. The other three juniors are Aubrey Keller, Quinn O’Connor, and Carter Bayers. Quinn and Carter transferred this year so Keith doesn’t know much about them while Aubrey is one of the girls on the volleyball team.

Keith looks at the sophomores next and immediately looks to Leon Torres, the sophomore catcher on the varsity baseball team. If Ben wasn’t as good as he is, Leon would have the starting position locked down. Leon is one of the smartest kids of his class, so he usually chooses his work over sports. Keith’s hoping that once Ben graduates, Leon will see all the potential he has. The other sophomores are Katie Roberts, Blake Kins, Vincent Chandra, Tyler Binford, and Samuel Belliveau. Keith doesn’t have much to say about them since he doesn’t know them, but he knows Tyler is on the JV football team and Katie is Cassidy’s little sister.

Lastly, the freshmen. The three Keith knows are Corey Simon, Shaun Pena, and Thomas Harris because they’re all on the hockey team. Corey is the starting left wing, Shaun Pena is one of the other right defensemen, and Thomas is the goaltender. A lot of feathers were ruffled when their coach picked him over David Doherty, the sophomore goaltender after the old senior one graduated, but Keith had no issues with it since Thomas is the better player.

Keith breaks out of his thoughts when he notices the rest of the student body entering the gym and taking seats on the bleachers. He searches for his other friends and immediately spots Shay, Sylvia, Cassidy, Gwen, and Matt walking into the gym. Gwen and Matt are deep in conversation, Matt occasionally laughing while Shay glares at Gwen, seeming to scold her about something.

Keith next sees Ben look over and sees his fists ball up. “Keith, who’s that talking with Gwen?”

“New kid in our class named Matt Henderson,” Keith answers. “He’s gonna be on the hockey team, so I’ve been showing him around.”

“Why is he talking with  _ Gwen _ ?” Ben wonders through clenched teeth.

“Because I’m not able to right now,” Keith answers nonchalantly.

Hunk bites back a smile and discreetly fist bumps Keith.

Lance and Nadia make their way out of the athletic hallway with microphones in their hands, talking avidly about something. Coran meets up with them to tell them something and they nod in response.

Lance clears his throat and speaks into the microphone. “Hello, Altea High! I’m your announcer, Lance McClain, for today’s events, and this is my co-host, Nadia Rizavi.”

“Hi! We’ve got an excellent assembly planned!” Nadia continues enthusiastically. “First we’ll be doing a little tug-a-war tournament where each grade goes head-to-head for the possibility to win a pizza party and a day off from school!”

The student body roars with applause and cheers.

“Alright! I’ve placed a lot of money on the seniors winning, so if they lose, I might be going to Homecoming stag!” Lance exclaims, earning laughter from the students. “Anyway, I need the senior team and the freshman team to step up first!”

The seniors, led by Hunk and Ben, step forward while the freshmen laugh with each other and dilly dally approaching Lance and Nadia.

“Okay, contestants! Pick a side and grab onto the rope! We’ve measured out where those tape markings are so when you’ve pulled far enough so the other grade’s tape is over the centerline, you win,” Nadia explains.

Hunk makes everyone come in for a huddle. “Alright, we should have Ryan and me at the back of the rope since we’re the muscle of the group.”

Ryan nods in agreement. “I say Kogane leads us in the front because he can be terrifying when he wants.”

“Ouch but thanks,” Keith says with a chuckle.

“That leaves Margo, Andrew, and me in the middle?” Ben wonders. “Awesome.”

The seniors take their position by the rope while the freshmen take theirs. Lance and Nadia step near the center of the rope. “Okay! Seniors, are you ready?!” Lance asks.

Keith and the other seniors cheer.

“Freshmen, are you ready?!” Nadia asks.

The freshmen cheer loudly but not as loud as the seniors.

“We’re happy to hear that! Everybody grab the rope!” Nadia exclaims. Once everyone has a firm grasp on the rope, she continues. “On your mark, get set, PULL!”

Keith immediately feels himself jolt forward as the freshmen yank the rope towards themselves, but the tide quickly turns once Ryan and Hunk begin pulling. Keith pushes on the ground with his feet, using all of his might to pull the rope. Slowly but surely Keith begins to move backward, smiling as the freshman tape inches closer to the center line.

“Seniors are covering a lot of ground!” Lance exclaims. “Hunk has switched his method of pulling by putting the rope over his shoulder! Will it be enough to win?!”

Keith huffs and pulls one last time, moving the freshman tape over the line. The seniors in the crowd cheer and everyone drops the rope, breathing heavily. “YEAH!” Hunk cheers loudly, pulling the group in for a hug. “We’ve got this in the bag!”

They step aside to let the sophomores and juniors go. The sophomores almost pull through, but the juniors make up their lost ground towards the end. It turns into a standstill between the seniors and juniors until Hunk yells something incoherently as he would during a football game, lighting a fire underneath the other senior’s feet to pull in the win.

“Seniors have won it!” Lance exclaims. “Now, a new challenger approaches…the teachers!”

Keith turns around and watches as Lotor Isola, Ezor Parisi, Zethrid Rozinov, Sendak Morrison, and Coran Smythe walk up. “What?! Coach Morrison! That’s not fair!” Hunk exclaims.

“That’s life, Garett!” Sendak exclaims, taking his position.

“We’re fucked,” Ryan says with a sigh.

“With that attitude we are!” Ben exclaims. “We’ve got this. Keith’s got the front nailed—focus on Ms. Rozinov, she’s the most terrifying one there.”

“I dunno…Sendak is pretty scary too,” Hunk comments. “Actually, I take it back. They’re both terrifying.”

“Amen,” Ryan agrees, high-fiving Hunk.

“Guys, focus,” Margo scolds. “The same order worked, so we should keep going with it.”

Ben and Andrew nod in agreement. “Good plan. Let’s move out,” Ben says.

Hunk puts his hand in front of him and Andrew, Ryan, Ben, Margo, and Keith follow suit. “Seniors on three! One! Two! Three!”

“ _ SENIORS _ !”

They break apart and go to the rope, grabbing hold of it. Sendak and Zethrid are at the back of the rope while Ezor is in the front with Coran and Lotor in the middle. She smiles at Keith and waves. “Hello, Keith! Just so you know, if you beat us, I’ll have you held back!” Ezor exclaims.

“Sorry, Miss Parisi! No can do!” Keith shouts back.

“Alright, everyone grab hold of the rope!” Lance instructs into the microphone, quieting down the students.

“On my count, pull! One! Two! Three—” Nadia pauses to blow into a whistle.

Lance winces then glares at her. “Where the hell did you get that!?”

“PULL!” Nadia yells, earning another wince from Lance.

Keith feels himself jerk forward from the teachers pulling on the rope. Hunk yells something and Ryan yells back. “Holy shit why is this so difficult!” Ben grumbles through his teeth from behind Keith.

Keith ignores them, focusing all his energy on pulling the rope. He feels himself inching closer to the line, trying to keep his feet away from the line. “HUNK! RYAN! CHANGE IT UP!” Keith yells.

“It’s futile, Kogane! You’re gonna l—” Zethrid starts when suddenly the rope yanks the other direction, sending Ezor stumbling forward.

Keith falls onto his butt, but Ben quickly helps him up and they continue to pull the rope until the marked line on the teachers’ side goes over the middle line. The students erupt in cheers and the rope falls to the ground, along with Hunk and Ryan.

“THEY DID IT!” Lance yells. “THE SENIORS HAVE WON OVER THE TEACHERS! THE SENIORS HAVE WON OVER THE TEACHERS!”

Nadia blows the whistle again, but Lance quickly snatches it from her. “NO!” Lance yells.

Nadia boos at Lance, sparking a tug-of-war between them for the whistle. Keith smiles at them then joins Ben, Andrew, and Margo in helping Hunk and Ryan up. “How’d you two do that?” Margo wonders.

“Keith—told…change…up,” Hunk manages between breaths.

Ryan clears his throat. “Honestly, no…idea.”

“Okay! Can we get the other grade representatives back down here?” Lance wonders. He waits for the rest of the grades to walk back onto the gym floor before continuing. “Alright! Our next activity is a form of Hungry Hungry Hippos. The rules are quite similar to the actual game. Simply grab as many balls as you can and bring them back to your team’s bucket! Two representatives will participate from each grade while the rest put the balls in the bucket. One will be laying on their stomach on one of these square rolly-things while the other holds their legs and moves them.” Lance smirks. “Here’s the twist: whoever’s on the scooter will be blindfolded! Choose wisely!”

“Hunk, you wanna grab my legs and I’ll grab the tennis balls?” Keith asks.

Hunk sighs. “I would love to…but I’m currently going into…cardiac arrest.”

“You’re not,” Margo states dully.

Hunk gives her a glare. “Okay, well, I need to sit out for this…have Ben do it.”

Keith looks Ben up and down. “I’m not sure if he can handle it.”

Ben rolls his eyes. “Don’t be so sure about that, dickhead. Let’s go.”

The two boys approach the red scooter, leading their team over to the matching red bucket. Ben takes the red bandana from Nadia when she walks over to give it to them. “Make sure it’s tight so it doesn’t fall off and make sure he can’t see,” she instructs before looking at Ryan. “Hi, Ryan! Having fun?!” She wiggles her eyebrows and hip-bumps him.

He rolls his eyes but gives her a fist bump. “Yeah, you were right, alright?”

Nadia gives him a wide smile before continuing to the sophomores by the blue bucket and blue scooter. When she’s gone, Ben steps in front of Keith. “You ready?” he wonders.

“Yep! Let’s do this,” Keith says firmly.

Ben hands the bandana to Margo and she puts it over Keith’s eyes. The world goes dark around him, but it feels as though his hearing improves. Even though that’s false, he can’t help but hear a little better. The reason why he thinks this is because he hears Lance slowly approaching him from the left.

“Lance, you won’t be able to scare me,” Keith states.

“Wh—how?!” Lance demands.

“I’m pretty sure Keith’s Spider-Man,” Andrew says. “It’s the only explanation.”

“I mean if that were true, that would explain why he’s so good at football, hockey, and baseball,” Ben adds smugly.

Keith turns to take a swing at him, but he misses entirely. “Take that back, fucker!”

“Oh, never mind,” Andrew says. “Spider-Man wouldn’t have missed.”

“Alright! Blindfolded students, please get on your scooters!” Nadia exclaims.

Ben and Hunk grab Keith’s arms and help him lay down on the on the scooter. Keith grunts when the corner goes into his side, so he adjusts himself so it’s not poking him. He feels Ben lift up his legs and move him forward.

“Kogane! I hope you’re ready to lose!” Luke Schmidt exclaims from Keith’s left.

“We kicked your ass once, we’ll do it again,” Keith replies.

“Alright, it looks like everyone’s ready! Now, we added a new aspect to this. Nadia and I will be walking around with small boxes for the ones on the scooter to hold. That’s what you’ll use to capture the balls instead of your hands,” Lance explains through the microphone.

A few seconds pass and he hears someone set something plastic in front of him. Keith feels forward and picks it up, turning it upside down so he can get the balls. Once everyone has a bucket, Nadia blows the whistle to signal the start.

Keith jerks forward as Ben guides him. He hears the other three students frantically slamming their boxes onto the ground and winces at the sound of plastic dragging on the floor. Keith pushes the discomfort aside and begins slamming his bucket down. He hears the plastic balls jumble around. He tries to collect a bunch of balls underneath the bucket until Ben drags him away. Keith lifts it up and hears his other teammates frantically putting those balls into the bucket.

Ben and Keith repeat the cycle a few more times until there are only a couple balls left. Everyone begins shouting, wondering where the final couple balls are. “Three o’clock! Keith!” Ben exclaims.

Keith moves his bucket to the right and slams down before anyone else can. “Did I get—”

Ben yanks Keith away and over to their team. “WE DID IT!” Hunk yells.

Nadia blows the whistle again. “And that’s the last one!” she exclaims.

Keith rolls off the scooter and takes the blindfold off, shaking his head to get his sweaty bangs off his forehead. “God, that was hard.”

Margo and Ben help Keith up as Andrew, Hunk, and Ryan count the balls in the bucket. “Sixty!” Hunk shouts. He high fives Andrew and Ryan.

Lance walks around and collects the scores before joining Nadia again. They whisper with each other for a moment then turn to the student body again. “Alright, in fourth place with a ball count of forty-three…the juniors!” Lance shouts.

Keith snickers when he sees Luke hang his head in shame.

“In third place with a score of forty-four…the freshmen!” Lance continues.

The juniors and freshmen shout in an uproar, the juniors upset they lost by one while the freshmen are happy they won by one.

Lance chuckles. “In second place with a score of fifty-three…the sophomores! And in first place with an outstanding score of sixty…the seniors!”

The senior class erupts in cheers. Hunk laughs happily and lifts up Keith in a big bear hug. “YOU DID IT!”

Keith winces at Hunk’s yelling in his ear but continues to smile widely. He meets Lance’s gaze and they exchange a smile with each other.

“Alright! Next up we have the free throw contest! Well, it’s not really a free throw contest. Basically, you have five designated spots to make your shots from before your partner can go. The seniors and freshmen will go against each other on the north side of the gym, and the juniors and sophomores will go against each other at the south side of the gym. The winners will then participate in a relay race having to shoot three free throws on both sides of the gym, all team members participating. You start on your side of the gym, shoot three free throws then run to the opposite side and do the same then run back, high five the next teammate for them to go, and finally sit down so we know you’re done! First team to finish wins!” Nadia exclaims. “Take a minute to decide who will be representing your class!”

“I say Margo and Andrew do it,” Ben pipes up.

“Whoa, why me?” Margo wonders.

“Didn’t you play club basketball?” Ben wonders.

“Well, yeah, but I got cut from the high school team,” Margo replies. “Therefore, I’m not good.”

Keith scoffs. “Okay, that’s bullshit. I know I don’t really care for basketball, but I’ve been to a few games and know some people on both teams. I’m fairly certain you were only cut because of the bullshit politics. You know how Gwen was cut from the volleyball team?”

Margo ponders it for a moment then nods. “I guess that makes sense. Are you sure though?” She looks at Ben.

“I have complete faith in you. Besides, since the basketball coaches here are mentally unstable, they wouldn’t let their players participate in this in case they got injured,” Ben shares. “That’s why I quit basketball.”

“False,” Keith interjects.

Ben shoots Keith a glare but doesn’t retort. “And Andrew because he gets lucky!”

“Uh, I think Ryan’s the better choice, dude,” Andrew says. “Ryan actually was on the varsity basketball team.”

“Oh…right,” Ben admits. “Whoops.”

“I hope everyone has decided because the seniors and freshmen are up first!” Lance exclaims.

Ryan and Margo make their way to where Lance and Nadia are in the center of the gym as Corey and Shaun do as well. “Okay, so, each of you will be taking turns shooting three free throws. Once one of you makes one, you immediately give the ball to the other person. Understand?” Nadia wonders.

Ryan, Margo, Shaun, and Corey nod, taking the basketballs from her and Lance. They split off back to their respective sides and Ryan steps up to the line first. “Let’s go, Kinkade!” Hunk yells. “Think, adjust, and execute!”

Ryan salutes to Hunk as Nadia blows the whistle. The crowd begins to cheer loudly, the gym immediately filling with sound. It only takes Ryan two tries to make the free throw while Shaun continues to struggle. He passes the ball to Margo, and she immediately steps up to the line, takes a deep breath and throws it. The ball bounces on the rim a couple times before sliding through the net as Shawn makes a basket. Keith, Ben, Hunk, and Andrew cheer loudly for Margo as she throws the ball to Ryan. He dribbles it a couple times and shoots it, the ball going directly through the basket.

This continues for the rest of their turns, and once Margo makes her last shot, Nadia blows her whistle. “Seniors are the winner!” she yells, earning cheers of happiness from the rest of the seniors.

The juniors and sophomores take their turn, it being neck and neck until the sophomores pull through right at the end and make the final shot seconds before the juniors. Ryan and Margo rejoin the rest of their team and huddle up. “Okay, I’m thinking we have Hunk and Ben be the first two people followed by Ryan, Andrew, Keith, then myself,” Margo says. “If someone else has a different idea—”

“Nope! That’s perfect!” Hunk exclaims. He puts his hand in the center of the circle. “Seniors on three! Seniors on three! One—two—three—”

“SENIORS!”

They break apart and form a line at the edge of the court while Hunk takes his spot on the free throw line. Once the sophomores are set, Nadia blows the whistle to start the relay. Hunk throws the ball into the air towards the hoop but misses completely. Margo snatches the ball and tosses it to him. “You got this, Hunk! Focus on your follow through!” she yells.

Hunk tries again and makes it. Luckily the sophomore on the other side struggles more than he did and only finishes when Hunk arrives on that side of the court. Hunk finishes his turn and hurries to the rest of them, high-fiving Ben and passing the ball to him.

Ben struggles even more than Hunk did, setting them behind. Luckily, Ryan catches them up in time for Andrew to pull them ahead, leaving it up to Keith to keep the lead. Now, Keith tried basketball in grade school, but it was never for him since he kept getting fouled out for being too aggressive.

That’s why he loves hockey.

However, somehow Keith makes his first three shots right away and is able to go to the other side. The sophomores try to throw him off his game by shouting things at him, attempting to get in his head. It works for a bit when Keith misses five shots in a row. Keith catches the ball from Nadia when it bounces away. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, pretending he’s on the baseball diamond…

_ Patience yields focus… _

He shoots the ball and it goes in. It comes back to him and he repeats the process.

_ Patience yields focus… _

Swish

_ Patience yields focus _ …

The ball bounces around the rim before—SWISH

It goes through the net, and Keith snatches it, sprinting over to Margo as the other sophomore heads towards her team. Keith passes the ball to Margo, high-fiving her as he crosses the line.

Margo immediately gets to work, making three out of the five shots she aims at the basket, making the first two, missing the second two, and making the last one. She runs over to the other basket as the final sophomore does too. Both miss their first shot but make their next two.

It’s all down to the last shot.

“C’MON MARGO!” Hunk yells. “LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO!”

Keith notices her getting flustered and irritated, getting sloppier with her technique. The sophomore completely misses her shot and the ball bounces into the hallway, allowing Keith to run over to Margo. He puts a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, hey. You’ve got this, alright? Just take a step back and breathe. Patience yields focus, hmm? Okay?”

Margo nods and smiles at Keith. “Yes, okay, thank you, Keith.”

Keith salutes her then hurries back to the floor by the rest of his team. The sophomore returns and resumes shooting. Margo takes Keith’s advice and pauses to collect her bearings before shooting the ball, easily making the shot. She runs over to them, and Nadia blows the whistle.

“SENIORS TAKE THE WIN!” she yells.

The senior class erupts in cheers again while Hunk and Ryan lift Margo into the air and set her on their shoulders. She smiles widely at them, mouthing  _ thank you _ to Keith.

“Wow, thrilling times for the seniors! I’m not gonna lie, I’m very proud right now,” Lance says with a smile. “Anyway, we have one more activity for you all: the pudding eating contest! Take a moment to decide who will represent your class. Those of you not participating are welcome to go back to the stands.”

Hunk brings everyone into a huddle for a final time. “If no one else wants to do this, I will, but I really don’t—

“I was gonna volunteer,” Andrew says.

“Now that’s a smart choice,” Keith agrees. “He’s always eating.”

“Alright! One last time! Seniors on three! Seniors on three!” Hunk yells. “One—two—three—”

“SENIORS!”

They break apart and Andrew walks up to Lance and Nadia while the other ones go to the stands. Hunk and Keith take seats by their friends who chose to sit near the front. Ryan goes and finds James and Ina, Margo finds her friends, and Ben goes to his other friends. Keith takes a seat next to Gwen who is leaning back onto Cassidy’s legs while she braids Gwen’s hair, probably to keep her focused on something other than her phone. Matt is next to Cassidy, but all his attention is on Gwen.

“I don’t believe you!” Matt exclaims. “That’s crap.”

“Buddy, I’ve got the scar to prove it,” Gwen says. “Look above my left eye.”

Matt leans down to examine her face. He looks determined at first, but his confidence dies down when he looks into her eyes. Keith raises an eyebrow and looks up at Cassidy who simply shrugs.

Gwen tilts her head. “Matt? You good?”

“Yep! Perfect,” he says, sitting up. “Just perfect…”

Keith chuckles quietly at the faint blush on Matt’s face then turns his attention back to the contest. He sees a representative of each class sitting at a table with a large bib around their necks. He isn’t surprised to see Katie Roberts representing the sophomores.

“Cassidy, how do you feel about Katie being up there?” Keith wonders with a smirk.

“If she wants to vomit out pudding all night, that’s her choice,” Cassidy replies. “I won’t be cleaning it up. I do have a question. Hunk, why aren’t you up there?”

“I hate pudding,” Hunk replies. “Andrew never stops eating, so it’s fitting he’s up there.”

“He looks familiar…is he on the hockey team?” Matt wonders.

“Yep. He’s on defense too,” Keith answers.

The group turns their attention to the pudding eating contest when Nadia blows her whistle. Since Keith wasn’t paying attention when she was talking, he has no idea what the rules are or how they can win. From what he can see, the contestants can’t use their hands, so they all look like pigs. Andrew and Katie finish their first bowl and move onto their second. It looks like they have to eat five bowls of pudding before anyone else.

It seems as though only Andrew and Katie have a chance at winning this. The junior girl who was chosen has already given up, claiming she hates pudding.

_ Well, why the hell did you volunteer then? _

The freshman looks like he’s about to puke.

Minutes pass and Andrew and Katie move onto their final bowls of pudding. The seniors chant Andrew’s name while the sophomores chant Katie’s name. Keith leans forward to see how close each of them are and notices that Andrew is almost done. A few seconds later, Andrew lifts his arms up in triumph with pudding all over his face.

“DONE!” he yells.

The seniors cheer while Nadia and Lance check to make sure all his bowls are clean. They nod at each other, then turn to the crowd. “Seniors have won it!” Lance exclaims, earning more cheers from the senior class.

They let the cheers go on for a few more seconds before getting everyone’s attention back. “Alright! Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the announcement of the court!” Nadia shouts happily. “Will the court members please follow Mr. Isola into the gym lobby? Thanks!” She takes the microphone from Lance then looks back at the student body. “Okay! Now, to take over announcing the court, I invite Jamie Nicholson and Keith Kogane to come get these mics from me then go to the center of the gym.”

The student body starts talking with each other again while Nadia waits for Keith and Jamie. Keith walks down to the center of the gym where Nadia is waiting with the microphones to passing them off to Keith and Jamie. Once Keith gets the papers and receives his cue, he begins reading. “Our first pair of queen and king nominees are Jack Davidson and Amanda Griffin. Jack is the son of Margaret and William Davidson. He plans on attending the California Institute of Technology next fall to major in chemical engineering after he graduates Altea High. Don’t worry, he knows what he’s getting himself into, his parents have told him that countless times, but they’re still proud of him nonetheless. If Jack could only bring one movie with him to college, it’d be  _ Interstellar _ because he’s a nerd for a great Sci-Fi movie with an awesome score. Jack’s advice to freshmen is to get involved in extracurriculars, sports, and the fine arts because it’s a great way to make friendships that will last you all four years.”

“Amanda is the daughter of Jacklyn and Gerald Griffin,” Jamie reads when Keith finishes his part. “She plans on attending Central Michigan University to pursue her love of competitive cheer. She will be studying music theatre as well. Amanda’s most memorable moment here at Altea High was when the competitive cheer team won its first district championship her sophomore year. One thing she’ll miss most about attending this school is participating in all of the musicals and plays the school puts on and she encourages everyone involved with the drama department to stick with it because the memories you make there will stay with you forever.”

After Jamie finishes speaking, Jack twirls Amanda out then back into her arms before walking over to where Amanda has to stand, dropping her off then walking to his spot. The crowd claps for them when they finish then direct their attention to the next couple. Keith looks over and exchanges a smile with Lance when he begins walking out with another classmate of theirs, Cynthia.

“Our next pair of queen and king nominees are Lance McClain and Cynthia Gordon. Lance is the son of Rosa and Luis McClain. He isn’t sure where he plans to go yet or what he wants to study—he just wants to make it through this semester before the May first deadline. Lance’s original proudest moment here at Altea High was making the Boys Varsity Swim and Dive team his freshman year and winning first in his event, but his new proudest moment happened during Corex when he—” Keith pauses, looking over at Lance to give him a small glare. Lance simply winks at him as he and Cynthia continue walking.

Keith shakes his head and continues. “When he finally admitted his feelings to his almost four-year-long crush on—” he sighs “—Keith Kogane.” Keith pauses because the entire gym erupts in cheers. He rolls his eyes and resumes once everyone is quiet. “Lance’s advice to freshmen and everyone at school is, to be honest, and open about your feelings because if you decide to keep it to yourself, you could miss an opportunity to truly be happy.”

Jamie gives Keith a smile before reading. “Cynthia is the daughter of Victoria and Paul Gordon. She plans on taking a gap year to go to Europe with her mom and dad before coming back to attend Michigan State University to start her journey to become a veterinarian. Cynthia’s favorite teacher at Altea High is Lotor Isola because he always has a snarky remark ready whenever a student decides to push his buttons. She would like to thank him for preparing her for the AP world and APUSH exams that made her want to drop out of school. Her advice to freshmen is to treat the teachers with respect since they don’t make as nearly enough as they should, and they have to deal with us for seven hours.”

Lance steps out in front of Cynthia and bows dramatically before swiftly scooping her into his arms bridal style, carrying her over to her spot next to Amanda. The crowd cheers for them as he sets Cynthia down. Lance looks over at Keith and blows him a kiss before walking to his spot next to Jack.

When the crowd dies down again, Keith takes a deep breath before continuing on. “Our third queen and king nominees are Marcus Carballo and Francesca Fein. Marcus is the son of Camila and Mateo Carballo. He plans on attending the Loyola University of Chicago to study business. His biggest dream is to be the CEO of a major company and with his charisma and grades, he could very well be the next Steve Jobs. Well, that’s pushing it a bit, but he also plans on playing basketball there as well since he enjoys playing it here at Altea High. Marcus’s most embarrassing moment is when he went into the wrong class and didn’t realize it until he was halfway through the pop quiz the teacher handed out. Mrs. Rozinov, he’s still sorry and would like your forgiveness before he leaves here for good.” The crowd laughs when Zethrid shakes her head at Marcus.

“Francesca is the daughter of Mary and Jace Fein,” Jamie reads, getting everyone’s attention once again. “She plans on attending Meredith College in North Carolina to study Psychology. Francesca’s most memorable moment here at Altea High was when she finally qualified for track states last year and won her three hundred meter hurdle event for the school. She hopes to do it again this year. Her advice for freshmen is to focus more on grades versus trying to be popular because when it comes down to it, colleges don’t care how many Instagram or Twitter followers you have, they care about your grades and what you were involved in. So maybe instead of researching ways to get more likes and retweets, maybe you should start on that essay due tonight at eleven fifty-nine.”

Marcus and Francesca skip together with their arms linked to their spots before splitting apart. Keith continues once again when the crowd quiets down after cheering for them. “Our next two nominees are Fernando Reyes and Sylvia Huertas. Fernando is the son of Ximena and Sebastian Reyes. He plans on attending Ohio State University to study sports marketing and play lacrosse. If Fernando was stuck on a desert island and could only bring three movies, he’d bring  _ Mission Impossible _ because Tom Cruise was fantastic in that movie,  _ Deadpool _ because that movie always makes him wet his pants laughing, and  _ Thor  _ because that’s his favorite superhero. The thing Fernando will miss most about Altea High is the varsity lacrosse team. He’s thankful for everyone on the team and owes his scholarship to them because they’re the ones who pushed him to be the best he could be.”

“Sylvia is the daughter of Mariana and Alejandro Huertas,” Jamie reads. “She plans on attending Western Michigan University to study Music Education. Sylvia’s passions in life revolve around her love for music—from marching band to Capella choir, she’s always been around music. She hopes to make the Bronco Marching Band playing the piccolo—she’d rather play the flute, but you all probably know why. Sylvia’s happiest memory here at Altea High was when she traveled down to Orlando with the marching band to perform in the day parade at Magic Kingdom—basically spending spring break with her closest friends at the happiest place on Earth.”

Fernando walks out in front of Sylvia and bows, offering his hand to her, but she huffs dramatically and turns away from him, earning laughs from the crowd. Fernando looks at the ground defeated and slowly makes his way over to the guys. Sylvia turns around, a look of sympathy on her face then runs to join him, linking their arms together. Fernando smiles triumphantly, and the crowd cheers once again. He drops Sylvia off next to Francesca then goes to stand by Marcus.

When the crowd dies down, Keith looks at his paper and begins reading the next two. “Our final two candidates are Kyle Adams and Meghan Meller. Kyle is the son of Ashley and Elijah Adams. He plans on attending the University of Notre Dame to study mechanical engineering and to join the Air Force ROTC. Kyle’s most embarrassing moment here at Altea High was when he accidentally walked into the girls’ locker room and began undressing in front of the volleyball team. He’s still mortified to this day and apologizes to his classmates who witnessed this unfortunate event. Kyle’s advice to freshmen is to own up to who you are as a person—he did and he’s in a happy relationship with the captain of the volleyball team! Maybe things do work out in the end.”

“Meghan is the daughter of Rachel and Dwight Meller,” Jamie reads. “She plans on attending Michigan State University to study chemical engineering. If Meghan was stranded on a desert island and could only bring three books, she’d bring  _ The Fault in Our Stars _ by John Green,  _ The City of Ember _ by Jeanne DuPrau, and  _ The Da Vinci Code _ by Dan Brown because those books never fail to reel her in even when she’s read them over ten times already. The thing Meghan will miss most about Altea High is the family atmosphere of our class. Sure, she isn’t friends with everyone, but ever since Corex, she’s felt like she can talk to just about anyone in the class and hold a conversation with them. She hopes to find something like that at MSU.”

Kyle and Megan both come out of the doors on skateboards, soaring to their spots beside the other candidates. The crowd erupts in applause when they make their entrance, and Keith and Jamie laugh at their creativity. If Keith ever gets put on a court, he’d want to drive in on his motorcycle, but sadly that’d never be allowed.

“Now, could we get a drum roll to crown the king and queen?” Keith asks into the microphone when Kyle and Meghan get off their skateboards. The entire student body begins pounding their feet on the bleachers as Keith and Jamie trade their microphones for the two crowns. Keith hurries over to the guys, and Jamie runs over to the girls. They nod at each other and Keith holds the crown over Fernando’s head then begins to jog behind the candidates, hovering the crown over each of their heads, lingering on someone occasionally so the students think it could be that guy. After a minute or so of teasing everyone, he stops behind Lance and places the crown on his head. The students erupt in cheers, and Lance immediately turns to hug Keith tightly.

“OH MY GOD!” Lance yells.

Keith winces slightly at Lance’s scream in his ear but gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Congrats, King McClain.”

Lance smiles widely at Keith before turning to the rest of the guys to talk to them about it. Once the students calm down and resume the drum roll with their feet, Jamie jogs behind the girls and does the same thing Keith did. After a minute of her teasing the students, she places the crown on Sylvia’s head, earning screams from the students. Keith laughs loudly when he sees Sylvia whirl around and look at Jamie with wide eyes, denying her winning to be true. The rest of the girls hug her and congratulate her. None of them seem to be upset right now that they lost, which surprises Keith. Then again, none of those girls are bitches like Kara, so who’s he to judge?

This is the first school dance Keith’s ever been to and he has no idea what to expect. With Lance as the king and Sylvia as the queen…things should be interesting…

**Author's Note:**

> I finally updated the Wands of Marmora! Check out that chapter [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15010913/chapters/41581835)!
> 
> Also, check out the newest Paladins of Justice chapter [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12734550/chapters/41332916)!
> 
> The second half of this will be posted within the next couple of weeks! :)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!  
> Tumblr: [keithpoenewt](http://keithpoenewt.tumblr.com/)


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